A parade of purple flooded State Route 89A between Posse Grounds Park and Sedona Red Rock High School at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 18.

The SRRHS graduating seniors wore their caps and gowns to drive in their cars — decorated with purple and white balloons, streamers, flowers and hand-written notes — through a cacophony of lighthearted honks, cheers and fist pumps.

The dozens of seniors were led by a Sedona Fire District truck while the Sedona Police Department helped escort, block traffic and make sure everything went smoothly. A truck from SPD Animal Control even flashed its lights in support.

Before the parade commenced and the graduates lined up in their cars at Posse Grounds Park, the seniors stood up through moonroofs or sat in truck beds scoping out the scene.

Ashley Meekma, whose purple celebratory gown blew in the wind from her perch on top of Jacqui King’s car, said she wasn’t sure how she felt.

“Honestly, I don’t even know. Excited?” she asked her three friends sitting below.

King, in the driver’s seat, said she felt good and was happy to see her friends in person since the school had been shutdown due to coronavirus precautions for over two months.

“I miss all of them. It’s weird that this is like our last hurrah,” King said.

First in line behind the firetruck was Christian Welch, who manned a drone from the back of a pickup truck filled with his siblings. Welch, who acted somewhat as the ringleader for the seniors, used the buzzing drone to capture the events of the day for a video he will put together for his class.

As the line of colorful cars made its way down, parents and underclassmen popped up with hand-made signs to cheer them on at busy intersections like Coffee Pot and Sunset Drive. Strangers driving caught wind of the situation and honked enthusiastically.

Once they reared into the roundabout at the front of the high school, the firetruck parked and Lee Loughnane, from the band Chicago, got on top and belted “Pomp and Circumstance” on his trumpet.

Teachers, coaches and faculty from both SRRHS and West Sedona School cheered as the cars drove by — some of them quite literally, as the pom-poms had somehow been hijacked from the cheerleading team’s stash. Students leaned out of from the cars’ windows and sunroofs once again to “woo” and record on their phones now that they were again off the main road.

Sedona-Oak Creek School District Superintendent and SRRHS Principal Dennis Dearden, who stayed professional in a dress shirt and slacks despite the 80 degree weather, said he thought the parade was great and that there will be plenty of memories between that and the video that will stream 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, on the school’s website, which will show the students walking across the stage to get their diplomas.

“Not many classes get two ex-presidents of the United States to talk for their graduation,” Dearden said of the class’s special circumstances this year.

“What a great class of kids this is,” chimed in Assistant Superintendent Deana Dewitt. “We’re going to miss them.”

Sedona Police Officer Jim Pott, who will work as the school’s new resource officer, was supervising the event in order to get orientated with the school environment.

“I thought it went excellent other than getting separated at some of the traffic lights,” Pott said of the drive on SR 89A up to the school. “We finally figured out that the firetruck was triggering [the traffic lights] to hit green, then turn red right after …. So that’s why [the trucks] started running with their lights off as they were coming up to the [traffic] lights.”

After laughing at that mishap, Pott said that the parade could not have gone smoother and he was happy that the other drivers on the road were so understanding.

“It was great,” Pott said. “This is so cool, I’m just glad we got to be a part of it.”

After the parade, the seniors and their parent posse drove back to the park before gathering on a side road with great views of the red rocks for a group picture, where they threw their caps in the air.

John Hobson, father of graduate Jake Hobson, had everyone give themselves a round of applause for the event going through without any bumps.

“I’ve been working on this for almost six-and-a-half weeks and it was worth every penny,” Hobson said. “I thought it was outstanding. One of the best parades probably to ever hit Sedona.”

Hobson planned the event with Michael Bohme, father of graduate Christian Bohme.
“What do these kids have to celebrate? A video that you guys worked hard to do, but there was no climax, and I thought these kids need that closure and this is what I came up with,” Hobson said.

During the shutdown, the gates to the school were closed. Hobson needed to contact the Governor’s Office in order to get them to open the gates for the drive-thru event.

“I contacted the Governor’s Office a couple of times, I contacted the fire department, I contacted the police department and you can see the support we had,” Hobson said. “The fire department and the police department, and Denny Dearden the principal — outstanding — they supported us a thousand percent. The kids listened, there was no accidents, there was no smart-aleck driving or anything, so God bless them, and they deserve it.”

Although the event was successful, there was a notable lack of masks and social distancing was questionable at best, with students bunched into cars and squeezing in for pictures. However, those there thought it was worth it.

Martha Bruening, mother of graduate Kiara Bruening, said she was glad the seniors had the opportunity to bond altogether one last time.

“Sometimes I guess you have to take risks,” she said.